City Commission to decide on tobacco ban in Lawrence parks and other recreational areas

The City Commission will decide Tuesday whether tobacco use will be banned in all of Lawrence’s parks, sports complexes and other city-owned recreational areas.

The proposed ban includes the use of electronic cigarettes and vaporizers, as well as smokeless tobacco. It extends to cemeteries, dog parks, Eagle Bend Golf Course, bleachers at sports facilities and approximately 1,500 acres around Clinton Lake — all land owned or leased by Lawrence Parks and Recreation.

The Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department brought the idea for a tobacco ban to the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board last spring. Chris Tilden, director of the health department’s community health program, has said it is “a great step forward.”